A Collection of Curios
by Storysiren13
Summary: Drabbles to pass the Steven Universe hiatus.
1. Material Memories

"What-what is this?" White Diamond glared down at the earthly flecks of... _something_ embedded in her fellow Diamond's hair. Pink Diamond just grinned.

"It's called _hay_ , isn't it wonderful White?" She clambered over a big square, seemingly made out of the...material. "It feels so strange, and the organics make so much of it! I don't know why!" She laughed, her body shuddering with the deep, lovely sound. The sunlight, yellow as the...hay on this planet, caught the edges of her gem just right. It glinted in White's eyes. She squinted. White Diamond didn't understand. Why would Pink be fine with not understanding? She didn't understand what this _hay_ was, she didn't understand why Pink had to have her colony here, she didn't understand why Pink had to be shattered here. The memory shriveled away to dust.

The pink palanquin stood before White Diamond instead. Her resting place, her first colony, her tomb. White nodded once, her face going blank yet again. _Her_ last time off-planet. She walked back into the ship, its majestic visage a copy of her own. "Set a course for Homeworld." As she settled into a seat, White Diamond cleared away her emotions. She knew it had been a long time coming. After Pink's shattering, Homeworld was falling apart. There was only one thing left to save it now.

Her ship landed as it always did, her fellow Diamonds never there. No gems to see her actions. Good. On the edge of Homeworld, White Diamond walked for the last time. She settled against the wall, spread her arms apart, and smiled. A glorious visage for her gems, a radiant smile for her fellow Diamonds, forevermore.

Deep inside the planet's crust, tendrils of white light surrounded the core. Homeworld wasn't going to fall apart. Not when she _was_ Homeworld.


	2. Curiosity

Homeworld was so _much_ , but her colony was too. It never ceased to astound Pink Diamond. So many things happened at every moment, but unlike Homeworld, it wasn't uniform and expected. It was the complete opposite.

"Pearl?" Her pearl looked at her.

"Yes, My Diamond?"

"I wish to see more of Earth." Pink Diamond said formally. Her excited smile ruined the façade. It faded when her pearl didn't smile, instead turning and going down the steps.

The walls were bare. Her pearl laid a hand on the observation orb, her sharp gaze turned toward Pink Diamond. "My Diamond?"

What did she want to see today? "Somewhere with water." The walls lit up with a dizzying array of colors for a moment, then stopped. Pink Diamond gasped.

It was so _different_. It was surrounded by a dirt wall, good for a Kindergarten. But there was so much water, more than she ever saw on Homeworld. Curious little organics swam and flew and crawled. Pink crouched. She wanted to know about it _all_.

"This is a pond. There is only a small amount of water here, but several types of organics, called fauna and flora, different from the bipedals, live here." The words registered faintly in the back of Pink's mind.

Green circular things floated on top of the water _(those are lilypads, a type of flora, My Diamond)._ White things _(lilies)_ grew on top of them, and little green things _(frogs, fauna)_ jumped from one onto the other. Tiny things _(dragonflies)_ flitted on top of the water. The water itself was so many different colors, the green of the lilypads but blue too, white at the shore and she was falling, falling so much deeper in love with Earth and what was she going to tell Yellow and Blue and White?


	3. Defective Much?

"...not a good...need...my own..." Pink Pearl shivered. Her Diamond and White Diamond were talking longer than usual. Face emotionless, form good, _she_ was good. But she was still worried. This time had been a little worse than the last; she almost got cracked. Her gem, set over her eye, ached with the memory. Her Diamond could be over exuberant at times in their games.

Pink Pearl glanced at the other pearl. White Diamond's pearl, on the other hand, was perfect. Gem polished to a gleam, form perfect, eyes ahead, nothing was out of place. Pink Pearl straightened up. Tremors rushed through the floor. The Diamonds must be done talking. She had to look as good-no, _better_ , than the other pearl. The doors opened.

"It'll be better for both of us, starlight." It came without warning; one of the Diamonds picked her up. Pink Pearl struggled to keep still, to be the perfect pearl. White Diamond glared at her beadily. "You will have mine instead. Your pearl is too...defective for you to keep around any longer." White Diamond's grip tightened. Pink Pearl got the message. She let go of her physical form.

0o0o0o0

White. White surrounded her the next time Pink Pearl regenerated. White Diamond smiled at her, not her Diamond. "You are now _my_ pearl. And as my pearl, we need to change your gem." Change her gem? White Diamond picked her up again. Where was Her Diamond? What was happening? White Diamond gently reached around her gem. She locked her fingernails behind it _and it hurt what was happening-_ POP! This was impossible, how could White Diamond have her gem but she still be here? She hadn't poof-OH!

Pink Pearl, form glitching, looked down. Her gem, somehow, was now on her stomach. How-She glitched again. **REBOOTING.**

0o0o0o0

" _Pink Diamond, your presence is required."_


	4. Rain Rain, Go Away

Diamond AU - Human.

"I like the rain! I don't wanna wear it!" Blue Diamond yelled as she ran out the door. White just sighed, holding the raincoat. Blue always had to be the emotional one. She was long used to her sisters' rebellions. _Maybe Yellow would wear it instead?_ Turning around, Yellow stormily looked at her from underneath a golden hood. She stomped past White and out the door. She was always the mercurial one.

"Pink! Do you want to wear Blue's raincoat?!"

"YES!" Her youngest sister came bouncing down the hallway. White had to smile; Pink wore the ridiculous pink clown pants that Yellow had gotten for her as a joke. It was adorable. Pink Diamond took the coat from her, dark blue with a hood, and put it on. It was a good foot longer than she was, barely avoiding the ground. Pink just grinned and bounded out the door.

White Diamond shook her head and walked to the kitchen. She sat down at the table and took a sip of her cold coffee. It was still good. White watched her sisters play in the rain outside. As she expected, Blue danced in the rain, water streaming down her black, blue-tinted hair, having the time of her life. Yellow stared upwards and grinned every time she heard thunder. She always loved the lightning. And Pink, Pink jumped in every puddle she could find.

 _Five, four, three, two, one_...Blue noticed Pink was wearing her raincoat. White could just imagine Blue's shriek as she stomped over to Pink. White moved to get up as Blue almost pushed Pink into a puddle. Pink just laughed, her mass of brown curls shaking, and took off the raincoat. Blue snatched it from her and put it on. White sighed. Just anotherday in the Diamond household.


	5. I See You

Diamond AU - Human.

"One, two, three, four, five, ready or not, here I come!" White Diamond grinned. The orchard was a perfect place to play. Food and hiding places, all rolled up into one place. She already spotted Pink Diamond. _Honestly,_ White thought. Her youngest sister giggled from behind a thin tree. "I found you!"

Pink squealed and ran away. White watched her go, and shook her head. Pink would get bored sooner and later, and try to find her again. The important thing was that she was it next time. _Now where are Yellow and Blue?_ The best places to hide were in the trees. Pink, being young, hadn't realized that. Blue and Yellow, older, would.

White scanned the treetops. She was impressed; twenty minutes and she still hadn't found either of them. Then she heard the faint crying. "Oh no." White followed the sound all the way to the middle of the orchard. Unlike what she predicted, Blue Diamond wasn't in the trees. However, White quickly found the reason. A large gash on her leg dripped blood. She picked her sister up. It wasn't that bad, but she didn't have any bandages or anything...

"Can-can't you d-do something Wh-White?" ...Their game of hide and seek was over.

"Yellow! Pink! We're done, you can come out now!" White started walking. Five minutes, and Pink sidled to her side. White sighed, giving her a cursory look. Her outfit was completely covered with grass stains and apple juices.

"Are we done now?" Pink whined.

"Yeah, Blue got hurt so we're going to go home now." Only a couple more minutes. Pink and Blue shrieked as Yellow Diamond jumped out of the tree in front of them. She stared beadily at White, eating an apple. Apple cores lay all around the tree trunk. White sighed.


	6. The New Difference

"Hello little one." Rose crooned. She smiled as the baby laughed. "Your child is adorable." She handed the baby back to its mother. Its leg poked out of the swaddling, turned in on itself. Clubfoot. Rose knew what would have happened if it had a gem. _Poofed and broken, harvested for energy, her sisters doing nothing about it._ Rose shook her head, waving goodbye to her new friends. That was Homeworld. On Earth, doctors treated them, and they got better.

0o0o0o0

"What do these do?" Rose asked. Midnight was almost upon them, and everyone was ready to fight. But she was curious. The human recruit tipped his hat, a smarmy grin on his face.

"Y'see ma'am, it's a long gun. It shoots little bullets out the hole," He aimed it at the ground in between a skittish aquamarine's feet, "which can take anything or anyone out." He shot. The aquamarine jumped and looked around, before flying away towards the Temple. The sound was extremely loud. Rose nodded. It was a serious weapon, one that could easily shatter a gem. She would have to find every human and tell them. It was so strange. Every weapon was a gem's own, or made by a didn't have anything like this on Homeworld.

0o0o0o0

Rose only meant for a quick peek. See what the humans were doing now. But then she stayed. The song, the passion, the man himself. It called to her, until she alone stood at the edge of the light, a sole spectator to the ode to her old home. The man belted out the last lyrics, and she clapped. It echoed in the wide open air. Singing wasn't like this on Homeworld. Earth was just so different from her old home. Everything constantly changed. She loved it.


	7. WorryWart

"One Nut-Dog for me please," _It's still weird to see ex-Mayor Dewey working the Big Donut_. He turned to Connie, who was staring intently at the menus, "Do you want anything Connie?"

"I'll take a chocolate-glazed donut please." _Hm. That's different._

"Alright, that's one Nut-Dog and one chocolate-glazed donut for 3.99." Dewey rang up the cash, put the food into bags, and handed it to them. "Have a good day!" _Ring-a-ling!_ "Welcome to the Big Donut!"

Steven and Connie exited the shop. Orange saturated the horizon while the endless blue sky filled with puffy clouds. They sat down at the edge of the Boardwalk and started eating. Connie looked at hers for a minute, while Steven took a huge bite from one end. "Whafchu thinking abouf Connie?"

"Should I eat this?" _Nobody should look sad while looking at a donut!_ "I-Mom doesn't let me have saturated or trans fats, but I've wanted to try it once and Ihavetraininginonlyacoupleminutesso-" She gasped for breath. Silent, Steven took the half-crumbled donut out of her hands.

"I think you can try it." Connie stared at him. "Maybe you can just take a bite? Just to see what it tastes like? I think it'd be okay to do that." She stared down at her feet, thoughts crawling across her face. Steven offered the donut to her once again. Connie took it. A little bite, she chewed thoughtfully. They watched the sunrise evolve, orange fading its way to bleeding red and pink. Connie ate more of hers slowly. Steven finished the rest of the Nut-Dog in a minute.

"Did you like it?"

"I'm happy I tried it. But I'm not going to have one again."

"Well, I thought it was totally _nuts_ that you wanted to try one in the first place!" They both laughed.


	8. You'll Be Fine

_She_ He was so tiny. Using a human colloquialism she had heard recently, he was a peanut. It was _horrible_ amazing that this was _what_ who Rose _left behind_ became _. She's dead dead dead_ Pearl stared at him, thoughts swirling in her head. She had convinced her friends and _Greg_ that she was fine, she could take care of _her_ him. _Get her back back back_

"We can't give up. Not yet." Pearl whispered. She owed it to her, to Rose, to her Diamond. This tiny weak sack of flesh containing the perfect, radiant, _Rose's_ gem...Pearl laid him on the ground and curled her fingers around _her_ his gem. "I can get you out, you'll be fine Rose..." She tugged. The gem didn't budge. She tugged harder. The gem glinted kindly, as if apologizing for her efforts. _This, this can't be it, I have to, need to keep trying, Rose-_ She fell back on her knees and swallowed, even though she didn't need to. She couldn't do it. She couldn't. _It's useless, you're useless, why did she leave me behind?_ Tears spilled across her cheeks.

 _Rose_ Steven looked at her. Pearl smiled at him sadly. His face screwed up. Tears streamed down his face as he started crying. _What do I do what do I do?_ Pearl picked _her_ Steven up. She tried to rock him the way Greg had showed her. He sobbed harder. Pearl racked her mind, _why did he start-! She_ was stressed, so _he_ started crying because infants learn from their caretakers! Of course!

Pearl took a deep breath, that she didn't need, and cleared her head. She couldn't be sad. She cleared her throat. "Steven~" His crying slowed. Little black eyes struggled to focus on her face. Pearl smiled. His mouth opened in a broad smile.


	9. Understanding? I don't know her

"... _Thanks Steven!"_ Catching a fragment of a conversation, Lapis laughed bitterly. She didn't understand, but then again, when did she _ever_ understand? She sheathed her water wings and landed behind Steven.

He waved goodbye to one of the humans-Sally? Sarah? She didn't know. He turned around. "Lapis!"

She didn't understand. "You're always helping everyone. Doesn't it ever get tiring?" He handed her a flower from a bouquet she didn't notice him holding. "What is this?"

"It's a forget-me-not! Sadie gave me a few; her mom got a whole bunch for her for Daughter's Day. She told me that one of the meanings is a-um, uh, what was it-" Steven tapped his shoe, looking everywhere but her. Lapis smirked. He would remember eventually. It was almost the same color as her. It smelled nice, very sweet. "A connection that lasts through time! That was what Sadie said! And since we're beach summer fun buddies, I thought you should have one!" Steven grinned. She didn't really understand, but that was okay. It was Steven. They started walking.

Sand crunched underneath her toes. Crashing waves filled the silence, while the stars twinkled above them. They weren't the same as Homeworld's, and Lapis was okay with that. She did understand, for once, why she was okay with it. It was a shock when Steven started to talk. "It does get hard sometimes. Helping everyone, I- I want to, and I can, and I like to, but I have problems too, y'know?" They stopped, halfway on the beach. She didn't know, but that wasn't what Steven needed to hear right now. "But everyone else needs help too, and sometimes I just want to stop but I can't, I _don't want to,_ I-if I stop I have to think-" Oh no. Now this, _this_ Lapis understood.


End file.
